The rapidly increasing use of personal computers has created a growing interest worldwide in computer networking, a prime example of which is the pervasive use of "the Internet". Computer networking on a smaller scale, such as in the form of Local Area Networks (LANs), has also expanded into countless different areas of business and technology. As users place more reliance upon computer networks, however, they also demand more sophisticated capabilities for managing these networks. Various different software packages exist for providing users with such capabilities.
Existing software products for network management have several disadvantages, however. For example, such products tend to be largely "tool-based". That is, although the software provides the user (e.g., a network administrator) with a set of tools for performing network functions, such as troubleshooting, it is often up to the user to determine which tool is best for performing a particular task and to determine on which devices in the network a task should be performed. Further, it is often difficult for a network administrator or user to become proficient enough with the available management tools to be able to use those tools to their full potential. These tools also tend to require that the user have extensive knowledge about the layout of the network, and that the user provide this information to the management tool. Moreover, existing network management tools generally provide the user with only one or two predetermined formats for examining the layout of the network.
Hence, what is needed is a set of network management services which are designed from a more flexible, device-oriented perspective. Specifically, what is needed is a network management tool which provides the user with information on the layout of the network, tasks that can be performed, and the devices on which each particular task can be performed. What is further needed is a tool which provides the user with customizable ways of viewing the layout of the network.